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BRASILIA: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reacted angrily on Wednesday (September 30) to US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s call for a global effort to offer Brazil $ 20 billion to end Amazon deforestation or confront unspecified “economic consequences”.
Bolsonaro wrote on Facebook that he interpreted Biden’s comment in a US presidential debate Tuesday night as a threat of economic sanctions if Brazil did not accept the offer.
Bolsonaro wrote in Portuguese and English that he does not accept “bribes” or “cowardly threats.”
The president said that Brazil was taking measures against deforestation and reaffirmed that he considers foreign interest in the Amazon to be financially motivated and an attempt to undermine Brazilian sovereignty.
“The greed of some countries towards the Amazon is a well-known fact,” Bolsonaro said.
“However, the explicit demonstration of this greed by those who are running for the presidency of their country is a clear sign of contempt for the cordial and fruitful coexistence between two sovereign nations.”
READ: Eight European countries urge Brazil to take action against deforestation in the Amazon
In the November US elections, Biden challenges Republican President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro openly admires Trump and has sought to ally Brazil with the Trump administration, with the two leaders seeking to deepen trade ties.
In the heated debate on Tuesday, Biden said that Brazil provided an example of how Trump “has no relation to foreign policy.”
“The rainforests of Brazil are being demolished,” Biden said.
“I would get together and make sure the countries of the world put in $ 20 billion and say, ‘Here’s $ 20 billion. Stop cutting down the forest. And if you don’t, it will have major economic consequences.’
Official data shows that an area roughly the size of Lebanon was deforested in Brazil’s Amazon by 2019, a high of 11 years, with preliminary government data for 2020 showing that forest clearings increased by 34.5 percent.
The right-wing Bolsonaro government maintains that Brazil is a model of conservation due to the size of the forest land that is still conserved.
Brazil has repeatedly said that the world should pay if it wants more forests to be conserved. Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles reacted on Twitter to Biden’s financing offer and wrote: “Just one question: Biden’s $ 20 billion in aid, is it annual?”
Bolsonaro ended his statement in English by calling Joe Biden by the wrong name.
“What a shame Mr. John Biden! What a shame!”
